Algerian Cartoonist Imprisoned
Published by Matt Glover June 30th, 2006 in Cartoons in the News
Algerian cartoonist Ali Dilem has been imprisoned for, well, annoying his president.
A quote from the Middle East Media Research Institute:
On February 11, 2006, Dilem was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment and fined 50,000 dinars (€550), for dozens of cartoons he had published in Liberté during 2003 depicting Algerian President Abdelaziz Boutlefika. Dilem was sentenced under Article 144b of the Algerian Criminal Code, which allows for a prison term of two to 12 months as well as a fine for “insulting” or defaming the president. Currently, 24 cases of press offenses are pending against him.
In Western countires, insulting the president or prime minister is a staple part of an editorial cartoonists income. I don’t think we’d have enough cells to hold them all should our governments bring in a simlar law…
View some of the cartoons that got Dilem in trouble, and the rest of the article, here.
Matt- Do you feel there’s a connection between this story and the Danish cartoons? It seems to me that persecution of cartoonists is not something that can be decided case by case, and certainly cannot turn on whether the offended party is a government, a religion, or individuals.
I also don’t think, regardless of whether you’re talking about a short jail term or a death sentence, that the question should turn on the discretion or good taste on the part of the cartoonist, editor or publisher.
It begins and ends with the intent of the cartoonist. One thing I’ve found is that you cannot draw a good cartoon with hatred or anger in your heart. You may feel good venting your spleen, but you’ll never persuade your readers of anything tht way, and cartooning is more or less always about persuasion.
But beyond that simple rule, a cartoon can never be grounds for criminally punishing the “perpetrator”. Get fired? Yes. Nasty letters? Sure. But exile? Jail? A lifetime of living like a fugitive? Never.
I’m not sure if there’s any connection in terms of the Algerian authorities basing what they did on the Danish stuff. I think Dilem might have been doing his ‘thing’ well before the Danish conflict even started.
That aside, I tend to agree with what you say. Write, paint, draw, sing or whatever with a heart full of anger and you get written off by most. Some may get on your ‘bandwagon’ but only because they see you as a way of voicing their own opinion.
A cartoon SHOULD never be the grounds for jail etc. It seems though that it CAN be. When the whole Danish thing errupted, I was totally perplexed - they were cartoons for goodness sake. Surely being fired or recieivng hate letters would have been enough, but the reaction we saw was crazy.
Who’s to blame for that? The cartoonist? Maybe a little. The publisher? Maybe a little too. The audience? Absolutely.
Strange times we live in.
Sorry Matt, I didn’t mean to imply that there was a cause and effect relationship between the two events. Just wondering out loud whether there’s an equivalency between the two, that a CARTOON FOR PETE’S SAKE should be grounds for any institutional or criminal punishment.